Sean’s Favorite Blogs For Throwback Thursday – The Top Things We Regret

As hard as it is for me to believe I have been writing articles for WGNA for over 5 years now. These days thousands of listeners come to our website and read the blogs we all write but in the beginning, not as many people even knew we were writing and didn't get to see some of the best things we have written about. Thinking about this I came up with the idea of finding some of my favorites over the past 5 years, things I think deserve to be read by more people and re-share them with you. I hope that you find them as useful and as interesting as I did when I wrote them.

The first blog I'd love to revisit deals with something that I think is even more important to our lives than it was 5 years ago when I wrote it. It was called, The 3 Most Common Regrets People Have on Their Deathbed It came from a nurse who wrote about the top 5 things people regret when their lives are coming to a close. I know, "That's depressing!", well really it is only depressing if we don't learn from the regrets of others. The truth is I believe that this blog was inspiring and that is why I want to re-share some of it with you now.

I only covered the top 3 regrets but I think you will agree these really give you pause as to what is REALLY important and maybe makes us all better people for reading them.

A Nurse named , Bronnie Ware wrote about the “Five regrets of the dying”, some things she learned in her years caring for patients in their final weeks of life. Its a good and short read if your interested. I like the top three specifically. And honestly, they are things that I am even know very conscious of in my life. In fact, I find I am most stressed and frustrated with life when I am having trouble with one or all of the three.

John Moore, Getty Images3. Wishing you had the courage to really express your feelings. How many times do you just not say something so as not to rock the boat? Maybe someone constantly does something that hurts you and you let it go thinking it’s just not that important that it bothers you. I recently told my Son, you have to tell people when they upset you , you don’t have to make a big deal out of it, but holding it in isn’t fair to either party.

2. Wishing you didn’t work so hard. This regret according to Ware is common to every male patient she ever had. Why do people trudge along for so many hours of their life, away from the things and people who mean the most to them just to realize in the end it did not matter. Why not try to live on a little less money, or realize that maybe you don’t want to take a promotion that will mean more hours at the office. After all, its true what they say, you can’t take it with you.

1. Wishing you had been more true to yourself. This one is the hardest thing I think people can try to do. We all try so hard to please others and fulfill their expectations. Even societies expectations of us tend to blur who we really are and what we really want. I love how we always talk about the “American Dream” and strive for the image of happiness others have painted for us. What id it isn’t your dream? What if you have no interest in getting married, having a house or children? How many of us really have the courage to say, no that’s not me. I guess in the end, its hard to look back on a life and say it was well lived, if it was someone else’s life the whole time.

John Moore, Getty ImagesWe could always go so much further into all of these and others but I think for now I have given you enough to think about for a while. I hope you do. Better to take the time now to think about these things because you will eventually, everyone does. Unfortunately most will do it when it is far too late.